Answers

Welcome to Goy. There are rarely suckers from laburnum trees. Can you get at them pull them up and see where they are coming from. What separates you and your neighbour and are they willing for you to remove them if so just pull them away.My garden is full of laburnum seedlings this year so if anyone wants one shout now before I bin the lot. There are millions of them.

Many thanks for quick response. The tree in question is right next to the fence separating from neighbour. It is smothered by ivy and another neighbour suggested that the tree is dying and suckers are appearing from its roots in my garden. Originally I thought they were weeds but when I tried to pull them out it proved to be impossible - very sturdy stem and it breaks when pulled even if I use a sharp tool. There are thousands of them and it is impossible to pull them out - size ranging from 1 cm to 10 cm the largest. Will it help if I spray them with weedkiller and which is the best for the purpose? This will be a short term solution as I am worried that new ones will appear? I certainly do not want a woodland in my garden... Thanks again for your help.

Can you approach your neighbour, because putting weed killer on would need to be a brush killer to kill them all off, and you do not want your neighbour complaining you have killed her tree. If the ivy is killing the tree it is because it is shutting out the light and killing the tree. Maybe your neighbour would agree to removing it as a joint effort. Otherwise as long as the tree is there you will have a problem. If you could expose the main root coming through under the fence you could maybe saw it free of the tree and then kill all on your side. Sorry I am not being very helpful.

Thank you very much again. I will talk to the neighbour and if she agrees than we have to find out what the coucil have to say - conservation area... And the ivy is destroying not only the tree but the fence as well. Makes me wonder how people can put up with ivy growing so wildly!

Ivy is a vital food plant for many insects and birds. Providing nectar at a time of year when little else is in flower, berry for thrushes, blackbirds, and pigeons (yes, even pigeons need a champion), and the leaves are food for caterpillars of various moths. Give it some space, and increase the biodiversity of your garden.
Phil J

I agree with what you say Philjeffs but not enough info is imparted to potential buyers of ivy and they overlook its problems and think only of the wild life. Trees have as much right to be unmolested as the birds but who thinks of them. Ivy growing on buildings must be grown over perfect brickwork etc or it will put roots in the crevices. I am against ivy because few people seem to know how to look after it properly. I was appalled the first time I drove through Oxfordshire to see rows of trees alongside roads and around fields which were being killed off by ignorant people who did not realise that excluding light from one plant by another will result in the death of the host. I agree ivy should be grown for all the reasons you say but go in to 10 gardens which have ivy in them and 9 out of ten of those ivyies will result in a dilemma for the owner. It would be good if you could come back and inform people of how it can be done safely and without affecting other plants. I cannot do that as I would not know where to begin. Gardening programmes encourage the use of ivy as a quick growing solution but they do not tell you how to handle the ivy when it is still growing past the space you want it to fill. To flower and have berries ivy needs to be a fairly substantial size and that is not talked about either.